I thought I post some quotes to refresh your memory of the accusations and innuendos of how Saddam and OBL are buddies. Here we go:
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George W. Bush Quote, September 25, 2002
“... the danger is, is that they work in concert. The danger is, is that al-Qaeda becomes an extension of Saddam's madness and his hatred and his capacity to extend weapons of mass destruction around the world. Both of them need to be dealt with. The war on terror, you can't distinguish between al-Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror. And so it's a comparison that is—I can't make because I can't distinguish between the two, because they're both equally as bad, and equally as evil, and equally as destructive.” [White House, 9/25/02]
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Donald Rumsfeld Quote, August 20, 2002
“.... There are al-Qaeda in a number of locations in Iraq.... The suggestion that ... [Iraqi government officials] who are so attentive in denying human rights to their population aren't aware of where these folks [al-Qaeda] are or what they're doing is ludicrous in a vicious, repressive dictatorship.... it's very hard to imagine that the government is not aware of what's taking place in the country.” [New York Times 8/20/02, Guardian 8/22/02, Fox News, 8/20/03, Telegraph 8/21/02]
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September 26, 2002 Complete Iraq timeline
Rumsfeld claims the US government has “bulletproof” confirmation of ties between Baghdad and al-Qaeda members, including “solid evidence” that al Qaeda maintains a presence in Iraq. The allegation refers to Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born Palestinian who is the founder of al-Tawhid, an organization whose aim is to kill Jews and install an Islamic regime in Jordan (see Late 2001-May 2002).
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George W. Bush Quote, October 7, 2002
“The threat comes from Iraq. It arises directly from the Iraqi regime's own actions—its history of aggression, and its drive toward an arsenal of terror. Eleven years ago, as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi regime was required to destroy its weapons of mass destruction, to cease all development of such weapons, and to stop all support for terrorist groups. The Iraqi regime has violated all of those obligations. It possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. It has given shelter and support to terrorism, and practices terror against its own people. The entire world has witnessed Iraq's eleven-year history of defiance, deception and bad faith.... We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas ... And surveillance photos reveal that the regime is rebuilding facilities that it had used to produce chemical and biological weapons.” [White House, 10/7/02, White House, 10/7/02]
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George W. Bush Quote,
Saddam Hussein could give terrorists weapons of mass destruction - Bush asserts, “Iraq could decide on any given day to provide a biological or chemical weapon to a terrorist group or individual terrorists.” [White House, 10/7/02] But not only have numerous experts and inside sources disputed this theory (see July 2002-March 19, 2003), US intelligence's National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq—completed just one week before—concluded that this is an unlikely scenario (see October 1, 2002). “Baghdad, for now, appears to be drawing a line short of conducting terrorist attacks with conventional or CBW against the United States,” the document clearly stated. “Should Saddam conclude that a US-led attack could no longer be deterred he probably would become much less constrained in adopting terrorist actions.” [San Francisco Chronicle, 9/12/03]
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January 30, 2001 Complete Iraq timeline
The Bush White House holds its first National Security Council meeting. The lead discussion of the meeting centers on the need to remove Saddam Hussein from power. US Secretary of Treasury Paul O'Neill, recalling the meeting, will tell CBS News two years later: “From the very beginning, there was a conviction, that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go ... From the very first instance, it was about Iraq. It was about what we can do to change this regime. Day one, these things were laid and sealed.” O'Neill will say officials never questioned the logic behind this policy. No one ever asked, “Why Saddam?” and “Why now?” Instead, the issue that needed to be resolved was how this could be accomplished. “It was all about finding a way to do it,” O'Neill will explain. “That was the tone of it. The president saying ‘Go find me a way to do this.’ ” [CBS News, 1/10/04; New York Times, 1/12/04; Guardian, 1/12/04; Vanity Fair, 5/2004, pg 234 Sources: Paul O'Neill] After information of this meeting is revealed by Paul O'Neill, the White House will attempt to downplay its significance. “... The stated policy of my administration toward Saddam Hussein was very clear,” Bush will tell reporters during a visit to Mexico In January 2004. “Like the previous administration, we were for regime change. ... And in the initial stages of the administration, as you might remember, we were dealing with desert badger or fly-overs and fly-betweens and looks, and so we were fashioning policy along those lines.” [New York Times, 1/12/04] But another official, who is also present at the meeting, will later say that the tone of the meeting implies a policy much more aggressive than that of the previous administration. “The president told his Pentagon officials to explore the military options, including use of ground forces,” the official will tell ABC News. “That went beyond the Clinton administration's halfhearted attempts to overthrow Hussein without force.” [ABC News, 1/13/04 Sources: Unnamed senior official of the Bush administration] Other people, in addition to O'Neill and Bush, who are likely in attendance include Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard B. Myers. [Sources: National Security Presidential Directives—NSPD-1, 2/13/01]]
People and organizations involved: Paul O'Neill, Richard B. Myers, George Tenet, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, George W. Bush
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And on the topic of weapons of mass destruction we have:
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August 26, 2002, Dick Cheney
Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. [Speech to VFW National Convention]
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December 6, 2002, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer
The president of the United States and the secretary of defense would not assert as plainly and bluntly as they have that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction if it was not true, and if they did not have a solid basis for saying it. [BBC article]
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September 12, 2002, George W. Bush
Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons. [Speech to UN General Assembly]
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September 24, 2002, Tony Blair
The assessed intelligence has established beyond doubt that Saddam has continued to produce chemical and biological weapons, that he continues in his efforts to develop nuclear weapons, and that he has been able to extend the range of his ballistic missile programme. [Comments on September Dossier]
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January 9, 2003, Ari Fleischer
We know for a fact that there are weapons there. [Press Briefing]
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January 28, 2003, George W. Bush
Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. [State of the Union Address]
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February 5, 2003, Colin Powell
We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction, is determined to make more. [Remarks to UN Security Council]
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February 8, 2003, George W. Bush
We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have. [Radio Address]
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February 28, 2003, Colin Powell
If Iraq had disarmed itself, gotten rid of its weapons of mass destruction over the past 12 years, or over the last several months since (UN Resolution) 1441 was enacted, we would not be facing the crisis that we now have before us . . . But the suggestion that we are doing this because we want to go to every country in the Middle East and rearrange all of its pieces is not correct. [Interview with Radio France International]
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March 7, 2003, Colin Powell
So has the strategic decision been made to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction by the leadership in Baghdad? . . . I think our judgment has to be clearly not. [Remarks to UN Security Council]
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March 16, 2003, Dick Cheney
We know he [Saddam] has been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons. And we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons. [Interview on NBC's 'Meet the Press'; Article]
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March 17, 2003, George W. Bush
Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. [Address to the Nation]
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March 21, 2003, Ari Fleisher
Well, there is no question that we have evidence and information that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical particularly . . . all this will be made clear in the course of the operation, for whatever duration it takes. [Press Briefing]
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March 22, 2003, Gen. Tommy Franks
There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. And . . . as this operation continues, those weapons will be identified, found, along with the people who have produced them and who guard them. [Press Conference]
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March 23, 2003, Defense Policy Board member Kenneth Adelman
I have no doubt we're going to find big stores of weapons of mass destruction. [Washington Post]
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March 22, 2003, Pentagon Spokeswoman Victoria Clark
One of our top objectives is to find and destroy the WMD. There are a number of sites. [Press Briefing]
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March 30, 2003, Donald Rumsfeld
We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat. [ABC Interview; Article]
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April 9, 2003, Neocon scholar Robert Kagan
Obviously the administration intends to publicize all the weapons of mass destruction U.S. forces find -- and there will be plenty. [Washington Post op-ed]
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April 10, 2003, Ari Fleischer
But make no mistake -- as I said earlier -- we have high confidence that they have weapons of mass destruction. That is what this war was about and it is about. And we have high confidence it will be found. [Press Briefing]
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April 24, 2003, George W. Bush
We are learning more as we interrogate or have discussions with Iraqi scientists and people within the Iraqi structure, that perhaps he destroyed some, perhaps he dispersed some. And so we will find them. [NBC Interview]
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April 25, 2003, Donald Rumsfeld
There are people who in large measure have information that we need . . . so that we can track down the weapons of mass destruction in that country. [Press Briefing]
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May 3, 2003, George W. Bush
We'll find them. It'll be a matter of time to do so. [Remarks to Reporters]
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May 4, 2003, Colin Powell
I'm absolutely sure that there are weapons of mass destruction there and the evidence will be forthcoming. We're just getting it just now. [Remarks to Reporters]
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May 4, 2003, Donald Rumsfeld
We never believed that we'd just tumble over weapons of mass destruction in that country. [Fox News Interview]
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May 6, 2003, George W. Bush
I'm not surprised if we begin to uncover the weapons program of Saddam Hussein -- because he had a weapons program. [Remarks to Reporters]
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May 12, 2003, Condoleeza Rice
U.S. officials never expected that "we were going to open garages and find" weapons of mass destruction. [Reuters Interview]
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May 13, 2003, Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, Commander 101st Airborne
I just don't know whether it was all destroyed years ago -- I mean, there's no question that there were chemical weapons years ago -- whether they were destroyed right before the war, (or) whether they're still hidden. [Press Briefing]
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May 26, 2003, Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff
Given time, given the number of prisoners now that we're interrogating, I'm confident that we're going to find weapons of mass destruction. [NBC Today Show interview]
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May 27, 2003, Donald Rumsfeld
They may have had time to destroy them, and I don't know the answer. [Remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations]
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May 28, 2003, Paul Wolfowitz
For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction (as justification for invading Iraq) because it was the one reason everyone could agree on. [Vanity Fair interview]
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June 8, 2003, Condoleezza Rice
No one ever said that we knew precisely where all of these agents were, where they were stored. [NBC's 'Meet the Press'; Article; Article] |
